Tribute Congratulations Kent Hughes for the best trade deadline in recent Habs history!

[Miller Time]

Very easy to take his production today after posting an unsustainable 8 points in 5 games shooting 46% in that timeframe. Talk at the end of the season where he likely dips to slightly above his average. I provided you stats on his production not increasing whatsoever in his 6 seasons but you want to argue there’s untapped potential, just because.

Oh it’s also a lost season. Easy to increase production with no expectations after 30 games. Like Galchenyuk and Erik Cole having amazing seasons when the team sucked then never replicated that ever again.

Cole & Galch?
Really?

Keep digging lol

 

[SpeedyPotato]

I don't recall other years TDL,but if this is the best,the others must have been absolutely abysmal. Sure they got some decent returns but I would have much preferred moving some others out first as a priority.

The time wasn't right to move the others, TDL is about maximizing return for players you are ready to part with and that other teams want. Hughes said It, he wasn't reaching out to offer his players, he waited to be approached and had a value in mind. I'm sure he'll be more aggressive in the offseason to get rid of these players you want to see gone.

 

[1909]

This team is really out of synch since years now (decades !). Now, the new management has to trade valuable, good, hard working players to free up cap space, while they are stucked with untradable, low producing assets that don't and won't contribute much to the team progression in the next couple of years. THAT is very frustrating.

 

[bcv]

This team is really out of synch since years now (decades !). Now, the new management has to trade valuable, good, hard working players to free up cap space, while they are stucked with untradable, low producing assets that don't and won't contribute much to the team progression in the next couple of years. THAT is very frustrating.

That’s what every team that is rebuilding does. They want to obtain valuable assets, you don’t get those by trading bad assets…

 

[1909]

That’s what every team that is rebuilding does. They want to obtain valuable assets, you don’t get those by trading bad assets…

If Bergevin don't give all these long fat contracts to guys like Armia, Gally, Hoffman, Drouin, even Price, Habs are not so deep in shit. That's what I am meaning. Look at TB. They keep their best, and trade their medium or unproven assets. In Montreal, it is the opposite. Right now, only Barron is "almost" a sure bet. Not the picks (yet) , and not Slimanic, Heineman or Schnaar.

If habs would be closer to cap floor than cap ceiling, I would be glad. But they are still at the top with lots of untradable deadwood. So, it's not re-construction for me. It is just , for the moment trying to extinguish the fire.

 

[Zorro]

This team is really out of synch since years now (decades !). Now, the new management has to trade valuable, good, hard working players to free up cap space, while they are stucked with untradable, low producing assets that don't and won't contribute much to the team progression in the next couple of years. THAT is very frustrating.

It is unfortunate but necessary. The Avs are contenders and their core are in their mid to late 20s which is exactly what Lehkonen is. He is the perfect player that you want/need to bolster your middle six. The Habs are at least 2-3 years away from being true contenders and thus are wasting Lehky, therefore trading him and getting what we got was the right move.

 

[1909]

It is unfortunate but necessary. The Avs are contenders and their core are in their mid to late 20s which is exactly what Lehkonen is. He is the perfect player that you want/need to bolster your middle six. The Habs are at least 2-3 years away from being true contenders and thus are wasting Lehky, therefore trading him and getting what we got was the right move.

The Habs won't progress that much with anchors like Armia, Hoffman, Drouin, Gally, Petry , Dvorak, even Price. So, by the time the youth are ready, they won't have much good vet to lean on. Ideally, you keep Tofolli, Danault, Lehky, Chiarot, and get rid, Or don't sign or re-sign the others.... BUT I do understand that these traded players were UFA, RFA and close to cash in bigger salaries. Too bad.

 

[BLONG7]

If Bergevin don't give all these long fat contracts to guys like Armia, Gally, Hoffman, Drouin, even Price, Habs are not so deep in shit. That's what I am meaning. Look at TB. They keep their best, and trade their medium or unproven assets. In Montreal, it is the opposite. Right now, only Barron is "almost" a sure bet. Not the picks (yet) , and not Slimanic, Heineman or Schnaar.

If habs would be closer to cap floor than cap ceiling, I would be glad. But they are still at the top with lots of untradable deadwood. So, it's not re-construction for me. It is just , for the moment trying to extinguish the fire.

Crazy to think, but the bottom line is a GM simply can't afford more than 1-2 mistakes in contracts or his cap space will be a mess. In the case of Bergevin he made about 5-6 mistakes in paying guys, it just seemed he could not get an understanding on the way capspace works....We certainly do have a fire on the salary line, and it is going to cost HuGo some assets, probably in picks to get rid of some of the deadweight this summer.

So making the acqusitions we just did, with players and picks, will be needed just to get some space.....no doubt in my mind. If he can get someone to take some of our heavy contracts off our plate, man he will get a standing ovation from the fans and media!!

 

[Bouboumaster]

I'll never forget how Dwight King was supposed to help us but was instead the worst f***ing player we had in almost a decade

Bergevin was good at finding talent but that offseason was SHIT

 

[Adam Michaels]

Crazy to think, but the bottom line is a GM simply can't afford more than 1-2 mistakes in contracts or his cap space will be a mess. In the case of Bergevin he made about 5-6 mistakes in paying guys, it just seemed he could not get an understanding on the way capspace works....We certainly do have a fire on the salary line, and it is going to cost HuGo some assets, probably in picks to get rid of some of the deadweight this summer.

So making the acqusitions we just did, with players and picks, will be needed just to get some space.....no doubt in my mind. If he can get someone to take some of our heavy contracts off our plate, man he will get a standing ovation from the fans and media!!

With 23 draft picks in the next two drafts (14 of them this year), we can expect some to be added as sweeteners to help get some contracts with term off the books.

Also adding Barron, Heineman, and Smilanic to the prospect pool, while you also add the players you will draft this year, you can also afford to maybe give a prospect in some deals.

 

[1909]

Crazy to think, but the bottom line is a GM simply can't afford more than 1-2 mistakes in contracts or his cap space will be a mess. In the case of Bergevin he made about 5-6 mistakes in paying guys, it just seemed he could not get an understanding on the way capspace works....We certainly do have a fire on the salary line, and it is going to cost HuGo some assets, probably in picks to get rid of some of the deadweight this summer.

So making the acqusitions we just did, with players and picks, will be needed just to get some space.....no doubt in my mind. If he can get someone to take some of our heavy contracts off our plate, man he will get a standing ovation from the fans and media!!

Right. He's gonna have to use many of these picks to get rid of bad contracts. I hope it works. Cap is bad and tight for many, many teams .

 

[BLONG7]

Right. He's gonna have to use many of these picks to get rid of bad contracts. I hope it works. Cap is bad and tight for many, many teams .

Still think Minny or Arizona take on Weber's cap hit.....that will be a nice start.

 

[Takeru]

We haven't had a good one in a long time. Honestly, I can't remember the last one. Maybe when we got Vanek?

The Vanek trade was great and helped boost our offense for the playoffs. We also got Weaver that year who was great in the playoffs.

Getting Petry at the deadline was also very good, but we needed offensive help badly at forward and Bergevin's answer up front that year was to get Flynn/Mitchell.

And then you realize it's been almost a decade since those deadlines. Yep, it's been a while since our last good one.

 

[TesseractPrice]

With how crazy inflation is, I wouldn't be too surprised to see a significant jump to the cap in 2-3 years. The static cap days are numbered

 

[MaynardJames]

There's one more trade we can make. Replace Anaheim in the Vegas deal and trade them Weber for Dadonov +. Since we would save their ass off we could use that to ask for the moon. I hope Kent is on the phone right now.

 

[SnapVirus]

Hugues and Gorton Q/A interview was one of the most refreshing interview I saw in my lifetime for an NHL team.

If we can keep loosing and get Wright. We will have another good forward. Next year pick might be top5-15. So that also might be a good forward (+ Allen and Drouin as tradeable ufa assets).

 

[Takeru]

If Bergevin don't give all these long fat contracts to guys like Armia, Gally, Hoffman, Drouin, even Price, Habs are not so deep in shit. That's what I am meaning. Look at TB. They keep their best, and trade their medium or unproven assets. In Montreal, it is the opposite. Right now, only Barron is "almost" a sure bet. Not the picks (yet) , and not Slimanic, Heineman or Schnaar.

If habs would be closer to cap floor than cap ceiling, I would be glad. But they are still at the top with lots of untradable deadwood. So, it's not re-construction for me. It is just , for the moment trying to extinguish the fire.

Sure things could be better, of course the Habs org would like a mulligan on those contracts. It'll take some time for sure but on the bright side we've got some nice youngsters and more coming up in the near future.

You don't turn around a decade of inept team building in a half season.

As for the Tampa comarison, save yourself some pain, we don't have anywhere close the level or amount of what their "best" represents. That's the reason they are where they are and we are where we are.

And to be clear, we did in fact keep what would be our best and traded our medium/complimentary assets. We didn't go around trading our best players for the sake of getting value, we got value out of secondary pieces that were on the way out one way or another eventually.

Of course peddling our worse assets to other teams won't be a piece of cake but we'll get there sooner than you think.

 

[Picaroon]

Right. He's gonna have to use many of these picks to get rid of bad contracts. I hope it works. Cap is bad and tight for many, many teams .

It kind of depends on when they intend to be competing for a cup no? If they are trying to compete in the next 2 years then yes, contracts need to move. But if they are looking 3-4 years down the road, many of those contracts will either be done or easier to move on the final year. I think they wait it out a bit. Hughes seems pretty patient and calculative. Doubt he starts giving assets away

 

[dcyhabs]

If Bergevin don't give all these long fat contracts to guys like Armia, Gally, Hoffman, Drouin, even Price, Habs are not so deep in shit. That's what I am meaning. Look at TB. They keep their best, and trade their medium or unproven assets. In Montreal, it is the opposite. Right now, only Barron is "almost" a sure bet. Not the picks (yet) , and not Slimanic, Heineman or Schnaar.

If habs would be closer to cap floor than cap ceiling, I would be glad. But they are still at the top with lots of untradable deadwood. So, it's not re-construction for me. It is just , for the moment trying to extinguish the fire.

Bergevin made some good trades and he had some good signings the year of the cup run.

He also had mostly terrible signings at all other times. He overpaid for guys he liked and failed to re-sign a lot of others. He signed Alzner, Savard, Hoffman, King, and lots of others best forgotten. I think ownership stepped in for Price and Subban, though. I wonder how long MB would have lasted if he had let those guys walk. Weird, arbitrary salary limits for some players, but 6.5 million for others...

MB might have done better if he could just keep the big picture in mind. Set a salary structure. Acquire guys to fit with the team instead of just randomly acquiring guys to win trades. Manage assets. He'll probably do OK as an AGM with someone else telling him what the needs are. Anyone who would choose Dvorak plus Savard over Danault has some flaws in their thinking, though.

Hughes and Gorton don't have much competition for trade deadline, buying or selling. Vanek was an interesting buy, but the coach didn't like him. The Danault trade was a month before the deadline but still good and close to a deadline trade. The Rivet trade was a deadline sale, and that one worked out pretty well. We'll see what happens with the draft picks acquired this year for comparison.

 

[1909]

It kind of depends on when they intend to be competing for a cup no? If they are trying to compete in the next 2 years then yes, contracts need to move. But if they are looking 3-4 years down the road, many of those contracts will either be done or easier to move on the final year. I think they wait it out a bit. Hughes seems pretty patient and calculative. Doubt he starts giving assets away

If the team continues to be competitive and entertaining like they are now, fans will be patient. But if it turned back to what we have seen in the first 45 or so games of this season, it's gonna be another nightmare.

 

[Price is Wright]

It kind of depends on when they intend to be competing for a cup no? If they are trying to compete in the next 2 years then yes, contracts need to move. But if they are looking 3-4 years down the road, many of those contracts will either be done or easier to move on the final year. I think they wait it out a bit. Hughes seems pretty patient and calculative. Doubt he starts giving assets away

Montreal is getting $1.1M in cap space next year just for the Alzner buyout going from 1.95M to 833K.

They likely move Weber in the offseason which is $7.8M on the cap they don't have to be under before the season begins.

I don't think the Habs sign anyone big in the offseason unless someone big wants to come here so the only big addition is Suzuki's new contract.

When Caufield is up for a new deal that's when Drouin, Byron, and Allen are all UFA so that's $11M to work with on an extension and more.

The only contract I don't think the Habs can move without bringing cap back would be Gallagher and Savard. Price is staying until he can't play.

 

[1909]

Montreal is getting $1.1M in cap space next year just for the Alzner buyout going from 1.95M to 833K.

They likely move Weber in the offseason which is $7.8M on the cap they don't have to be under before the season begins.

I don't think the Habs sign anyone big in the offseason unless someone big wants to come here so the only big addition is Suzuki's new contract.

When Caufield is up for a new deal that's when Drouin, Byron, and Allen are all UFA so that's $11M to work with on an extension and more.

The only contract I don't think the Habs can move without bringing cap back would be Gallagher and Savard. Price is staying until he can't play.

Petry's and Hoffman's contracts are heavy too.

 

[Price is Wright]

Petry's and Hoffman's contracts are heavy too.

Hoffman just needs one hot streak season and there will be teams paying for him.

Petry I will be very surprised if he is still a Hab in October, heavy or not.

 

[The Great Weal]

Petry's and Hoffman's contracts are heavy too.

I still think a team would pay a 3rd for Hoffman.

 

[Picaroon]

Montreal is getting $1.1M in cap space next year just for the Alzner buyout going from 1.95M to 833K.

They likely move Weber in the offseason which is $7.8M on the cap they don't have to be under before the season begins.

I don't think the Habs sign anyone big in the offseason unless someone big wants to come here so the only big addition is Suzuki's new contract.

When Caufield is up for a new deal that's when Drouin, Byron, and Allen are all UFA so that's $11M to work with on an extension and more.

The only contract I don't think the Habs can move without bringing cap back would be Gallagher and Savard. Price is staying until he can't play.

Ya, I don't think we are in any kind of cap hell. Let a few teams strike out in UFA this summer and then dangle Petry for cheap. Someone will bite. Move Weber out as has been rumoured. Byron is an easy tdl move next year. Lots of room to work with there. The only players we are truly stuck with are Gallagher and Price, the latter I think is more likely to LTI-Retire than finish his contact.